Chapter 2 The Bathhouse is Very Big
Jiang Yingli was very cautious, walking with her head down, not daring to look at the emperor. When she reached the center of the hall, she knelt down, clasped her hands together, and bowed.
"I am overjoyed to be granted the title of Consort, and I have come here to thank Your Majesty for your grace. May Your Majesty live forever."
Fortunately, I didn’t say anything wrong because of nervousness.
Jiang Yingli was secretly delighted.
"Come here and grind ink for me."
The voices echoing in the hall were still as cold and clear as ever, but they were more majestic than before.
Jiang Yingli was stunned. Was this a good or bad way to thank him? Why did he start grinding ink right away? She had been thinking about it for a long time.
Why don't you comment on it?
But Jiang Yingli didn't dare to think too much, and quickly stood up and walked over with her head down.
Before she got close, she heard Xiao Chenglan ask her.
"Do you still like Zhaohua Palace?"
Jiang Yingli nodded quickly, "I like it. I like all the concubines that His Majesty bestows upon me."
"Look at me while I speak."
Jiang Yingli thought Xiao Chenglan thought she was just responding casually, so she quickly looked up, but was stunned before she could say anything.
Xiao Chenglan was wearing a dark black brocade robe embroidered with a golden dragon pattern, his black hair tied in a golden crown, his black eyes were looking at her quietly, his brows were filled with the oppressive feeling that belonged only to an emperor.
If Xiao Chenglan's face hadn't been as handsome as before, Jiang Yingli felt that she would hardly recognize him.
It's only been half a month since I last saw you, and you've changed so much.
Realizing that she had looked directly at the emperor for too long, Jiang Yingli lowered her eyes and answered solemnly, word by word:
"Your Majesty, I really like Zhaohua Palace. The crabapple trees outside are beautiful, and the decoration inside the palace is also very exquisite."
Xiao Chenglan hummed, "Anything else?"
besides?
Jiang Yingli is stuck.
She came in a hurry to express her gratitude and didn't even look around carefully. How could she know what was inside the palace?
Jiang Yingli pursed her lips, racked her brains for a moment, and said hesitantly: "Also... the bathtub is very big."
Xiao Chenglan's eyes trembled obviously, as if he didn't expect Jiang Yingli, who had been struggling for a long time, to suddenly say this.
Jiang Yingli immediately buried her head deeply, wishing she could crawl into the crack of the ground.
Oh my god, what on earth is she talking about...
He had been reminding himself not to lose his composure, but he ended up making a fool of himself as soon as he entered the hall.
Fortunately, Xiao Chenglan didn't seem to care and didn't say much.
Just as Jiang Yingli was about to sit down at the desk diagonally opposite him to grind ink, Xiao Chenglan looked up at her, then bent his slender knuckles and tapped lightly on his side.
"Come here, come to me."
"Oh." Jiang Yingli quickly straightened her knees, which had not yet bent, and walked to Xiao Chenglan in small steps.
The dragon throne was very spacious, but Jiang Yingli didn't dare to sit on it even if she had ten thousand guts, so she prepared to kneel down on the cushion beside it.
Unexpectedly, this time her knees did bend, but before her buttocks touched the cushion, a big hand suddenly grabbed her waist and pulled her in.
When he reacted, Jiang Yingli had already sat on the dragon throne, half of her body leaning on Xiao Chenglan.
Seeing the majestic dragon pattern on Xiao Chenglan's chest, Jiang Yingli was frightened and felt dizzy.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me! I will get up immediately."
She tried to retreat quickly, struggling with her hands and feet, but Xiao Chenglan showed no intention of letting go.
He held a pen in one hand and patted Jiang Yingli's waist with the other, staring at her with his dark eyes, unable to tell whether he was happy or angry.
"I carried you up here, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid of me?"
Jiang Yingli looked at the dragon throne under her butt, feeling as if she was sitting on pins and needles.
But the dragon throne was dead, and Xiao Chenglan was alive, so she still planned to follow Xiao Chenglan's wishes. So she calmed down, sat down obediently, and explained:
"Your Majesty, this is my first time sitting on the throne, and I feel a little nervous."
Seeing that Jiang Yingli had settled down, Xiao Chenglan hummed a "hmm," which was considered as his approval of Jiang Yingli's explanation, and then said, "This is my first time sitting here too."
Jiang Yingli was stunned.
Can this be the same?
But before she could think about it, Xiao Chenglan's hand had already reached out.
There were some thin calluses on his fingertips, and he gently stroked her cheek, which felt a little itchy. Jiang Yingli blinked several times.
"Why are you so thin?" Xiao Chenglan asked.
Jiang Yingli wanted to look at him but didn't dare to. She stared at his chin, wondering how to answer.
Although she and Xiao Chenglan hadn't seen each other for only two weeks, Xiao Chenglan hadn't returned home until midnight when they met two weeks ago. She woke up, half-drowsy, and he held her in his arms. When daybreak came, Xiao Chenglan was gone again.
He had been busier than ever in the past three months, and she had vaguely heard rumors that the late emperor was seriously ill and that the situation in the capital was about to change. She was in a state of panic, and with Xiao Chenglan away, she was naturally worried and had difficulty sleeping or eating, which was why she had lost some weight.
However, she couldn't just say that she was afraid that he would be killed in the palace coup and that she was extremely afraid of death.
Now that Xiao Chenglan is sitting on the dragon throne, it would be disrespectful to say this again.
After all, he was the one who killed everyone else.
"The flowers and plants in the mansion have sprouted recently, and I've been busy taking care of them. I'm a bit tired." Jiang Yingli lied.
"Oh?" Xiao Chenglan raised an eyebrow. "You're so busy, it seems you don't have time to worry about me."
Jiang Yingli quickly changed her tone, "I'm worried, worried! I worry about Your Majesty every day."
Xiao Chenglan was satisfied. He curled his lips slightly and pinched the soft flesh on her face. "Long time no see, little gardener."
When Jiang Yingli heard this name, her face turned red.
To be honest, this is a normal name, but one time Xiao Chenglan was dissatisfied with her taking care of the flowers and plants and waking him up late at night, so he deliberately called her "little gardener". Now she calls her that in broad daylight, which is embarrassing to hear.
Xiao Chenglan curled his knuckles and gently scratched Jiang Yingli's flushed face, whispering, "Why is your face so red? Are you hot?"
Jiang Yingli was irritated. She grabbed Xiao Chenglan's hands and whispered, "Your Majesty, please stop teasing me."
Xiao Chenglan looked at her fluttering eyelashes and shy cheeks, and a happy smile flashed in his eyes, but disappeared in a flash.
"Okay, sit down, I still have business."
Jiang Yingli felt as if she had been pardoned. She quickly sat up from Xiao Chenglan and went to get the ink from the inkstone.
Xiao Chenglan had just ascended the throne and had a lot of memorials to deal with, so he spent the entire morning buried in paperwork.
Xiao Chenglan didn't say he would let her go, and Jiang Yingli didn't dare to get up and leave without permission. She just sat beside him obediently as before, adding ink and grinding from time to time.
In the afternoon, Xiao Chenglan took a rare break from official duties. He pushed a roll of names in front of Jiang Yingli.
"This is the list of selected beauties from Xiexiu Pavilion. I have screened them myself. Please take a look and screen them again."
It turned out to be a list of candidates for the new emperor's coronation.
She sees? It's not like she's being chosen as a concubine, so what can she see?
Jiang Yingli was puzzled but didn't dare to say anything. She took the list and looked at it carefully.
The first page of the list is full of names, followed by page after page of portraits of the beauties, and next to the portraits are a few lines of brief introduction to their family background, temperament, and skills.
There are many varieties, but none of them are bad.
Even among those crossed out by Xiao Chenglan, there were noble ladies from aristocratic families who were proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting.
Jiang Yingli didn't dare to screen people out casually. Which man would complain about having too many beauties in his harem?
The first survival rule for Salted Fish Palace Concubine: Don’t be jealous.
What's more, if the one she crossed out happened to be the one His Majesty liked, wouldn't that be digging a big hole for herself!
"Your Majesty, many of these beauties have yet to be seen. Why don't you wait until the day of the selection to see them all? What if there's a beautiful woman among them who truly meets your heart's desire?"
Jiang Yingli felt that what she said was very appropriate, and secretly admired her own wit.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Chenglan glanced at her with a firm and somewhat unhappy tone.
"No."
Jiang Yingli could sense some of his displeasure—was he blaming her for talking too much?
She advised him to look again at the people who had already been screened out. Wasn't that just instructing the emperor on what to do?
It seems that I didn't think it through just now.
Jiang Yingli quickly admitted her mistake: "I made a mistake."
So she symbolically crossed out a few names on the booklet and returned it to Xiao Chenglan.
"I have made my selection, please review it, Your Majesty."
Xiao Chenglan glanced at him, his expression showing no emotion, and said calmly:
"You mean, all the remaining people should go to the palace to meet the emperor?"
Jiang Yingli smiled: "Yes, since Your Majesty has already screened them, then I believe the remaining concubines' family backgrounds and appearances must be acceptable to Your Majesty."
After a long silence, Xiao Chenglan picked up the pen and started drawing on the book again.
"This, don't."
"This, don't."
"I don't want this either."
“…”
Jiang Yingli watched him draw a line every few rows, and in the end only a small half of the hundreds of people were left.
After the selection process, how many will remain? I'm afraid there won't even be ten!
"Your Majesty, haven't you drawn too many lines?" Jiang Yingli said hesitantly.
Xiao Chenglan: "Is it for me to choose a concubine, or for you to choose? If I say no, then no."
Jiang Yingli suddenly became uneasy.
She felt that Xiao Chenglan's temper had become somewhat erratic today.
Jiang Yingli felt uneasy and a little depressed.
In the past, in Prince Su's Mansion, although Xiao Chenglan was cold, he was easygoing and rarely got angry.
In just a short while, the emperor was displeased twice.
Does a person change suddenly when he becomes an emperor?
From now on, living with the king will be like living with a tiger. The peaceful life in the dilapidated house will no longer exist.
well.
It's really worrying.
At night, Xiao Chenglan was going to the Imperial Observatory to meet with the ministers, so she returned to Zhaohua Palace early.
When she had the chance to take a closer look, Jiang Yingli suddenly realized that the decoration inside Zhaohua Palace was not only exquisite, but also luxurious.
Moreover, there is a large empty nursery outside the temple.
Does this mean that if there is a chance, we can transplant the peonies, chrysanthemums, and orchids in Prince Su's Mansion here?
Those are all fine products she carefully cultivated.
The next day, Xiao Chenglan was watching the concubines in Xiexiu Pavilion, while Jiang Yingli was praying to the gods and Buddha in Zhaohua Hall.
God bless you, I hope Xiao Chenglan has better vision and chooses good people.
Or, even if there are some who are scheming and malicious, I hope they won't be too smart.
If someone wants to harm her, she can take precautions, but people who are too smart are simply impossible to guard against.
In the evening, Xiao Chenglan came to Zhaohua Palace.
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